Back-to-back quarterly sales drops seem to have CEO Elon Musk’s attention. Always looking for ways to bolster deliveries, Tesla’s offering a new long-range variant of the Model 3 sedan.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to look for ways to stoke sales of the company’s lineup.
The new version of the Model 3, which can be found on the company’s website, is being offered for $5,000 less than the all-wheel drive model at $42,490, or $29,990 after tax credits and 5-year gas savings the company claims. The new variant travels up to 363 miles on a charge.
According to Reuters, there have been no other changes to the pricing or versions of the Model 3, Tesla’s entry-level electric vehicle.
Musk often looks for ways to bulk up the company’s sales toward the end of a quarter. However, with more competition and falling prices, he’s not waiting to make changes but instead trying to dictate the market.
Slow sales
It announced a 5.2% decline in production worldwide, at 410,831 vehicles, in the second quarter, compared with 433,371 in the first quarter of 2024.
Tesla’s newest Model 3 variant is a rear-wheel drive long-range version. It’s $5,000 less than the AWD model.
The decline in production, which was lower than analysts predicted, was offset by an increase in deliveries of vehicles held in transit or inventory globally as it experienced a slowdown in China and continuing labor unrest in Europe. The EV giant does not break out sales for individual countries, but the U.S. continues to be its largest market, based on registration data, and it appears its deliveries were down in the States for the second quarter in a row.
Analysts say several factors appear to be working against Tesla, including increased competition, the automaker’s slow refresh of existing models, and CEO Elon Musk’s aggressive use of social media to promote an increasingly conservative viewpoint – which flies in the face of most EV buyers who tend to be socially liberal.
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Overall EV sales
There’s been plenty of talk about EV sales in recent months and anyone who follows social media, in particular, has likely seen reports suggesting that demand is on the decline.
“EV demand is still growing in the United States, and we’re seeing that with new products coming to market helping draw demand to the segment,” including older offerings, said Stephanie Brinley, the principal analyst for S&P Global Mobility.
EV sales in the U.S. are on the rise, albeit not at the red-hot level they once were. However, they are growing faster globally.
Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose by 13% in June compared to the year-ago results. Much of that growth — about 60% — in China. Conversely, they dropped in Europe, market research firm Rho Motion said.
Expect that to continue at the European Union instituted a new round of tariffs as high as 37.6% on Chinese EV imports. The Biden administration has been looking at the possibility of raising tariffs on vehicles imported from China, hoping to head off an expected onslaught of affordable electric vehicles.
And, the longer range is ???????????????????????????
363 miles; 22 more than the AWD version.